Olympus PEN E-PL5 and PEN E-PM2 Hands-on Preview

Body & Design

The PEN Mini lives up to its name by being one of the smallest large-sensor mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras on the market. It's a fraction bigger than the Nikon 1 J2, despite having a sensor twice the size. The much-copied Olympus retractable zoom also helps keep the size down and produces one of the better kit-zoom performances.

The body itself is predominantly metal, though it's relatively thin, so don't expect pro-DSLR style impregnability. The rubber rectangle on the front of the camera offers improved grip compared to its predecessor, and intentionally conjures-up the image of the original digital PEN, though it's not as striking or handsome as that camera was.

Like its predecessor the E-PM1, the new PEN Mini has very few external control points, underlining at its primary point-and-shoot intentions. In its automatic exposure modes the PEN E-PM2 is essentially a point-and-shoot camera, and an apparently pleasant one. You don't even have to use the shutter release button if you don't want to - using the touch-sensitive screen, pressing to focus or shoot works exactly as the average smartphone user would expect.

And arguably, the Mini is at its most well-behaved when you don't try to take too much control. The Mini does have PASM modes and a customizable function button, but it takes a fair amount of work to learn how to make the most of it. The small rear dial retains the same rather convoluted control logic as the previous PENs - with multiple button presses required to change most settings.

The default function of the Fn button is engaging the Live Guide results-orientated touch-screen menu. The Live Guide has five virtual buttons allowing you to adjust saturation, the warmth of the image, image brightness, background blurriness and motion blur. You can only control one at a time, which could be a touch limiting, but it's a system that allows more control over the final image without having to learn about apertures and other photography settings.

Taking control

It is possible to take more control over the camera - even the most basic Olympus camera tends to have the same level of customization as their higher-end models. If you engage the custom settings menu, you can customize several of the buttons and fine-tune much of the camera's behavior. It's clearly not the camera's main focus, but the option is there. For instance, the Fn button can be reconfigured to have a number of functions.

If you're the sort of person that wants manual exposure control you'll probably also want access to the E-PM2's key features without having to go menu-diving. The customizable Fn button will help, but we'd also recommend activating the Super Control Panel. This can be turned on in any or all of the Mini's main shooting modes - iAuto, Scene, Art, and PASM. Turning it on is a pain (once you've activated the custom settings menu, turning the SCP on is an easy eight clicks away, folks!) but it's worth it.

Once activated in the menu system, the SCP can be engaged by pressing 'OK' and then 'Info'. At this point you'll see most of the camera's key shooting settings pop up on screen. This display is interactive, and settings can be selected and changed using either the 4-way controller or by touch. Olympus has not taken the opportunity to really optimize this display for touch, however, and many of the individual options are too small to hit with much accuracy using a fingertip.

It's not all frustrations though - we're very pleased, for example, to see that Olympus has changed the default 4-way controller/dial behavior in playback mode compared to the original PEN Mini. In the EPM-1, in playback mode, pressing the left/right positions on the 4-way controller would zoom in and out of images. To scroll through your pictures, you had to use the control dial. This could be changed in the custom settings menu, but as default behavior, it made very little sense. Now, the default is reversed - arrow keys to scroll through images, and the control dials zooms in/out. Much more sensible (but you can change it back if you're weird like that).

Body elements

Unlike its predecessor, the E-PM2 sports a touch-sensitive screen. This is effectively optional (you can just use the camera's physical controls if you want to), but touch-to-focus shooting is addictively easy, in PASM modes as well as fully automatic shooting.

A new 'Fn' button on the E-PM2's top-plate can be assigned to serve several different functions (see list above), though it is a little tricky to redefine its function.

The E-PM2 has a dedicated movie button on the back, which allows you to start recording at any time (you don't have to switch the camera into a separate movie mode).

The Mini's AF illumination lamp can be disabled if you're trying to be unobtrusive in your shooting, but can really help with low-light focusing.

The Mini has the AP2-spec accessory slot, allowing use of add-ons such as the PENPal Bluetooth image sharing unit.

It also means you can use either the VF-2 or the less expensive, lower-resolution VF-3 electronic viewfinder. These are handy for working in bright light and encourage a more stable to-the-eye shooting position.

The E-PM2 uses the same BLS-5 battery as used in all the recent PEN models, but is also fully compatible with the older BLS-1 type as used in several previous PENs and E-system cameras.

The memory card slot as usual is beside the battery, and accepts SD, SDHC and SDXC types.

First impressions

The PEN Mini is unequivocally intended as a point-and-shoot camera and our first impressions are it should fulfil that role well. Given the difficulty of configuring (and the fiddliness of then using) the more-manual controls, we don't think it's going to be much fun to take extensive photographic control over. But the Live Guide interface, now bolstered by the addition of the touch screen, looks like it might do its core job well. Indeed the interface encourages more experimentation with settings than most point-and-shoots, so it should offer a little more creativity than a conventional compact camera, if not necessarily a stepping-stone to full photographic control.

The issue is much more acute for the PEN Lite - the addition of a mode dial implies a degree of seriousness that is undermined by the small control dial and its awkward control logic. But the flip up screen makes it a more flexible camera than the Mini, whether you're looking to shoot self-portraits or are looking for something discreet that can be shot at waist level. (Only the relatively loud shutter might hamper its suitability for such role).

Being enthusiast photographers ourselves, and having really liked the OM-D, we were perhaps a bit disappointed that the latest PENs don't provide all the same capabilities for around half the price. But, of course, it would be disastrous for Olympus if they did. If they live up to the promise and manage to offer an approachable shooting experience for beginners, with the E-M5's excellent image quality, in some of the smallest and least expensive models on the market, then it's far too early to write-off the PENs.

Comments

Just jumping sidewards (sorry) someone else posted that they were dropping their Nikon DX system as they now have an Olympus Pen (lovely cameras and Zukio glass) my brother in law has done much the same - I love this Pen 5 Lite BUT to my eyes the colours it produced are ALL WRONG - far too pink and not a nice pink. Is it just me that has seen this ? And no its NOTHING to do with colour balance etc as I've checked this carefully when he wasn't looking (my god Olympus LOVE their menus they go on forever) - still far too pink....Canon too warm / red (but I prefer it that way) Nikon too green / cold looking on their newest cameras. But Olympus too PINK.....sorry Pen users.

Just bought my E-PL5 a few days ago. I must tell you that it's a big improvement over my old EN-PL2. First of all it takes amazing, bright night time shots. The PL-2 just couldn't handle very dark shooting events. The higher resolution was a welcomed benefit as the picture quality is stunning! Not crazy about the external flash since I use the VL-2 viewfinder. I can hardly wait to capture some incredible shots when I take it to Paris next week.

Oh god yes - my brother in law has switched from Nikon DX into a Pen 5 Lite system - PLEASE don't misunderstand me I really like the camera and have used Zukio glass on and off for over 30 years but the MENUS are a KILLER...and I just don't like the colours his camera produces - not natural too my eyes - too pink (no camera is perfect) Canon too red, Nikon too green but I could live with either happier than what his Pen turns out.. I haven't the heart to say anything too him - he seems very happy....

there is a link at the bottom of the specs to message them, so they can correct it. @mjesper: that is just absurd. a spec sheet is supposed to be concise, correct, accurate. period. no two ways about it. if there's an error, it must be corrected. it's the ONE thing that is supposed to be accurate.

It is true. Normally it's not a problem since you can reduce the aperture and the exposure time to match even the brightest conditions. There are some special applications where you don't want to do that, such as pictures of falling water where you want to create a dreamlike effect by long exposure, for example this one: http://500px.com/photo/22769087 .

Mr Butler and dpreview crew, on the JPG image testing could you add 1 or 2 test shots with "warm color" off? I leave warm color OFF always on my epm1 and I think many people do too or many would be interested to see a test shot with warm off on the epm2 and epl5. Thanks much.

owning a pana G3 I am quite happy with m43. compared to the sony R100 the m43 sensors could increase their pixel count to 20 or 22 MP (I am printing as big as possible) and would be very happy with higher resolution. nevertheless I might get one of those tiny beasts, pocketable, fast AF, smae sensor as OMD EM5.

Increasing the pixels doesn't always help and most of the time it's detrimental to quality. It's the quality of the pixels that count. A 12MP D700 with easily trump a 20MP RX100 in large size printing.

If the gap between the pixels does not increase with the higher count (i-e the surface exposed to light remain the same, so you cannot really compare to different formats... FF has a largely more important surface exposed to light...) then there is no penalty on noise performance...

So if performance is relatively constant, then comes the details resolution, which is an important factor with bayer sensors. Take a 12MP sensor which let's say resolves 2400 l/mm and you mount a lens able to resolve 2700 l/mm : well between the AA filter and the nyquist frequency, you will not be able to capture an optimal amount of details.

So really it comes down to manufacturing tech...

A D800E does resolve more details than a D700 for instance, given good enough glass, of course.

I mean more res does not always hurt. The 16MP sensor does seem to bring better results in the E-PL5 case.

I did get the EPM5 an it is much better than the G3. the missing aliasing filter (?) helps getting incredibly sharp and clear images. the higher iso is much much better. a VERY capable camera, tiny poecketable and amazing when used with good lenses (pana 20, pana 14mm, panaleica 25, oly 45, oly 60macro, oly 12mm, they all work very well with this camera, I am very cursious how much more one can get out of m43 sensors in terms of resolution and dynamic range and iso in the next generations...)

I am trying to find out if the image stabilization in E-PL5 would contribute significantly to stabilization of a long lens, such as a 300 mm. Does anyone have tests/opinions about this? After what I understand the older models couldn't do much, but OM-D is able to make significant improvements even with a very long lens. See http://admiringlight.com/blog/om-d-e-m5-is-effectiveness-with-long-lenses/ for a test. As I undestand it, the question is about either how much space the sensor has to move around to compensate for camera shake, and how fast/precise it is.

Is the IS in E-PL5 the same as in E-PL3, or has there been substantial upgrades?

draleks:I've read no claims of improvement in the IBIS in any of the "pens" since day one..

Having said that, I've not seen really effective IBIS in any of the Olympus cameras since the E-510/520 (except of course in the OMD). (I dont mention E-5 or E-3 as I dont own them).

To me, the most crucial point in using IBIS is to NOT have it on all the time, and to NOT expect miracles.

With a 300mm (600 effective) lens, the IBIS can help you get a "Usable" shot when the light isnt good and your shutter speed is below "optimum". It usually wont get a "crystal clear" shot (the aforementioned "miracle").

If you already have the EPL-3, take it out with your 300mm lens and shoot WITHOUT the IBIS unless your shutter speed falls below 1x focal length, and you might be surprised.

The specs say: rangefinder-style and some of the comments also talk about the rangefinder look. A rangefinder camera has an optical system that helps to focus manually. The Pen has nothing of a rangefinder and even the original analogue Pen was not a rangefinder but a SLR camera.Why all these confusion with rangefinders???

It doesn't look like a rangefinder at all. Typical for the appearance of a rangefinder is the optical viewfinder and the second window to create the double image in the viewfinder that is used to obtain focus. The Olympus Pen has not even one viewfinder window. Let me be clear, I think the Pen is a very interesting camera but I think we must stop calling every non_DSLR a rangefinder-style camera.

According to some infos from the web the PL-5 has an additional HDR AE Bracketing modus with 5 frames up to 3 EV steps and 7 frames up to 2 EV. So total 12 EV range. Olmpus considers to add this feature to OM-D too with firmware updates. Search the web for PL-5 and HDR Bracketing and you will find some photos of the menu setting ....

I agree with this. Why do they not add a small built in flash. If these are truly targeted to the point and shoot market who are looking to upgrade, this market of consumers value having a built in flash. The purpose of getting these cameras is having the camera as small as possible and having an external flash defeats the purpose. I have been waiting for this since the first PEN cameras and they are already on the PL5 without adding a built in flash.

Why does this preview both cameras, but with most of the product images and info about the less interesting camera, the EPM2? It's nice, but I think most will pay $100 more for the EPL5 with the mode dial and tilt LCD that hopefully isn't the weird 16:9 ratio like the EPM2. Also I get why the EPM2 has the fairly standard 460 K LCD, but shouldn't the EPL5 have a slightly better LCD panel since it's in the same price range as the NEX-5R or N, which offers a bit better screen?

Any word on video IS? On the E-PL3 it's not very good because it's digital, on the E-M5 it's supposed to use the in-body IS. If the -PL5 uses the IBIS, then I'm sold and will buy one as soon as it hits shelves.

Higher resolution, better sensor and a tilt-able LCD. I've never owned a PEN camera but I have to admit this upgrade is interesting. But then so is the GH3, X-E1, and D600. At this rate I'll have a camera for each day of the week.

I also have an E-PL2 and would upgrade for the speed increase. I could click the E-PL2's shutter and go take a nap before the picture actually gets taken. It hurts to think about all the pics I've missed just because the camera isn't responsive enough.

Unfortunately, no EVFs on any of the new PENs either (and I'm not interested in yet another accessory like the VF-2). So I guess I'm stuck waiting until the non-weather sealed OM-D comes out. $1200 is too steep, but I'd happily shell out $800.

Nothing is amazing about this camera.. But I shall upgrade my E-P3 to the E-PL5 just to get the Sony sensor which is a vast improvement to the old Panasonic one. Just look at the image quality at ISO10000!! It looks much better than the E-P3 at ISO1000!!

Look at the test shots on www.imaging-resource.com. I have found no camera that produces as much detail at high ISO (1600 ISO) as this camera. None. No DSLR. Only Olympus Pen. I think it's the 3-way combo of focus accuracy, lens, and sensor. Unbelievably amazing. I've been pixel-peerping at PENs for years. I bought this camera last week, I could not stand to live without it.

And for what it's worth, it likes like an awfully nice camera. I saw some comments about softness, but make sure you are comparing apples to apples when you criticize sharpness. Some were shot with the kit zoom. Others at pretty extreme conditions. That wide angle bus shot was with the kit zoom, and I don't see a lot I could criticize. I will leave the criticism to the rest of you.

All these whiners, if you are complaining that the camera lacks SLR features like a view finder, controls, etc., I have a solution: Go out and buy the OMD or one of the fine Panys. Quit whining and go out and shoot some pictures.

I can hear your replies..."well the Pany's have it, why not Olympus?" OK. Go get your pany and then start complaining about something else. Quit whining, go out and stimulate the economy and pony up for an OMD.

WHY still no click wheels for easy one-handed control?!?!I know, I know, so people who really want proper control over settings spend €150 more for a future E P5 (or 4) or double the price to get an OM-D...

Isn't there really one model too much in this line-up? I think there should be an affordable, slightly smaller E P5 with flip screen and proper external controls and then they can skip the PL line.

Or put this sensor/processor/software in a Ricoh-GR/GXR-type of body with proper wheels, up-to-date screen and comfortable grip and I wont think twice before buying.

"Isn't there really one model too much in this line-up? I think there should be an affordable, slightly smaller E P5 with flip screen and proper external controls and then they can skip the PL line."

That is exactly what I'm saying. All i ever wanted to have on my E-P1 was tilting display and maybe e build in flash. I had a E-PL3 for a week. I did not like the smaller display (16:9, why?) I did not like the fewer controls and the absence of an orientation Sensor. The level gauge in the E-P1 is very useful. And it had no build in Flash. Only the one for the accessory port. The E-P3 has one, but no tilting Display. The E-Pl2 also had one. Weird.

I hate those screens. To use them at an angle they MUST be to the side of the camera, making the camera 70% wider then it needs to be. Yeah they 'can' be useful, but I prefer a tilt only screen 99% of the time.

Because the 'new' 16MP sensor is considerably newer technology than the 'old' 12MP, by about 4 years. Maybe using the same new tech in a 12MP MIGHT be better then the 16MP, but they are at least 1 if not 2 generations of tech apart. Pixel size isn't everything.

I might sound a bit narciso or whatever here but I really like the option of taking self portraits, it's really hard to have nice picture when you are in vacation by yourself!!is a ep-5 due to be released?I wonder what this ep-5 would have(built in flash?)

Apple only has a single line of phonesand tablets, so they can simply increment the model number. Camera companies usually have beginner, enthusiast and pro lines. Olympus' naming convention isn't too hard to understand. The PEN lines M for mini, L for light and nothing for the flagship. With the new OM-D line created, I think the L series will probably be dropped soon, as the PEN E-P line will take up the enthusiast market.

BTW, the reason why the number 4 is avoided is because the Japanese pronunciation of 4 sounds like "die". Aside from the Nikon D4, I haven't seen many other camera models with 4 as the model number.

@Teru Kage: I believe the impass with the number 4 it is because of the Chinese language; if so, Japanese and Chinese are a huge different worlds, and that includes their respective languages. Some of the cameras listed by HakonD are of japanese manufacture and they do flash a number 4.

What are you guys whinging about? - this is about as small as you are going to get in a camera with a sensor of this quality.

NO there isnt a built in flash and NO there is no EVF but I have owned an E-MP1 for a while and these are a non-issue to me as the accessory port is the best solution for these items as I use them infrequently.

But, if I am allowed one complaint it may be directed at almost all mirrorless cameras is that contrast focus AF does not work well in poor light especially at medium to long distaces where the focus assist lamp is ineffective.

Manual focus is easy enough as I have reassigned the video button to this function and the magnification is adjustable on the fly but, the point is, you shouldn't have to. In the main forum, others have posted that other lenses are much better in low light i.e. they don't 'hunt' so much but to me most of the smarts would surely be in the camera - not in the lens so I don't really believe it. I am certainly not going to shell-out for a Leica lens just to fix this problem as somebody suggested.

The new Pens seem to have lost the 60fps video, which is not a huge loss but why the step backwards? I have the e-pm1 and will see if the reviews of the e-pm2 will be glowing enough to warrant an upgrade. The new sensor is obviously the main attraction, but with the fast primes I'm using, I hardly go over ISO800, even indoors, so I don't get into the ISO range where the new sensor's advantage is most obvious. One thing is for sure; I prefer the e-pm1 looks. Those shrunken e-pl1 looks do the new e-pm2 no favors!

Agreed on the indoor ISO with fast primes, that is until I discovered shutterslap and started setting the shutter to 1/120 or higher. Now I find on my EPM1 I must choose between high ISO noise and shutter induced blur. The EPM2 would be better at high ISO, but no word if they improved shutterslap. Since they don't admit it exists, then probably not. But the extra dynamic range would be nice in summer.

My E-PL1 may need to stay around for awhile and I may have to get a Pana GH2 or EM5 for decent video for my upcoming vacation. I would have expected it to have an orientation sensor and better body. But it looks like they want people to move to the EM5.

An E-PL body with an E-M5 sensor is on the top of my wishlist (well...an FF sensor in a compact ILC is the real dream but FF and compact lenses are opposing realities) but the lack of built-in flash and E-M5 focusing speed have me on hold. I'm hoping that Oly will include these 2 features in the next PEN E-P model. I'd get the E-M5 but I don't like the bulk of the built-in EVF (I prefer the option of using a plug-in EVF when I need it). I'll stick with my 2 year 'old' E-PL1 for now (works perfectly for what I use it for) but am optimistically looking forward to Oly's next announcement.

The lack of an orientation sensor is so annoying!!! Seriously,such a small feature and yet not corrected even in the third generation model! I don't care about other missing bits as they are trivial in a small camera, but this problem means thousands of extra but unnecessary clicks, presses and work.

Almost as annoying as cameras that have orientation sensors but don't encode the images in the proper orientation. They merely take all the pictures in landscape and set a flag that every piece of software is supposed to check. Asinine.

Isn't that weird nowadays?Well, I come from DSLRs and I seek for something smaller, I would prefer in-body IS, but this single thing discourages me from Olympus.

If I understand well, it means that I cannot show the JPEGs right from the cameras SD card on my TV, or computer... Do I need to edit 50% (sometimes even more) of the pictures only to show them properly? Or I miss something and this is not needed?

Totally disagree that these cameras are rehashed products as they features the very best sensor Olympus has. So people who for whatever reason don't buy an EM-5, have a chance to get EM-5 quality in a smaller body. If the EPL-5 had been around before the Fuji X-E1 came to market, I might have bought one.

But this announcement has been up since 6 AM New York time, maybe earlier. I think the first set of comments got deleted, as I think all the Photokina news created problems for DPR's server.

Some have said "it's ugly." WHO CARES. It's not a woman in a bikini. I think how the IMAGES will look is what counts, and with that OM-D/EM-5 sensor and JPEG engine, it's apt to look fantastic, and in a classic 35mm rangefinger-like body that's not so large, just like what the E-P1 and E-PL1 gave us with the prior generation.

I will say, though, especially with the E-PL5, the lack of a built-in flash is too bad. You need it sometimes, especially portraits/fill-flash or "social snaps" situations. I think I'd liked it, too, if they had managed a 3" LCD that took full advantage of the 4:3 aspect ratio vs 16:9.

I do like the "touch to focus" feature, I've been using a Panasonic GF3 the last 4-odd days & really like that feature, but prefer the Olympus JPEG engine & IBIS (using the Olympus 14-42mm II MSC).

Heck, I just bought the E-PM1 refurbished from Cameta--despite advice to wait for the new models coming. Oh well--I can give them time to work out any fatal flaws if there are any.

Page 3:"If they live up to the promise and manage to offer an approachable shooting experience for beginners, with the E-M5's excellent image quality, in some of the smallest and least expensive models on the market, then it's far too early to write-off the PENs."

Yes, I should think so!What do they even mean?That we should write them off at the very day of launch?!Geez DPR, c'mon :(